# Londinium
## English
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin Londinium. Doublet of London.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /lʌnˈdɪn.ɪ.əm/
* (US) IPA: /lʌnˈdɪn.i.əm/

### Proper noun

Londinium
* (historical) A city in Britannia, Roman Empire: An ancient settlement in the area of modern London.
* (poetic) Synonym of modern London: A city in England, United Kingdom

### References

* ↑ “Londinium”, in Collins English Dictionary.

## Latin
### Alternative forms

* Lundinium, Londonium, Lundonium, Londonum, Londinum (Late and Medieval Latin)
* Lundonia, Londonia, Lundoniae (Medieval Latin, as sg. or pl.)

### Etymology

Uncertain, but likely from Proto-Celtic *Londinyom (“place that floods”), from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“heath; wild land”) + *-injo-, a suffix forming specific nouns and found in other Romano-Celtic placenames. Cognate to Proto-Celtic *landā (“low-lying land”), whence Old Irish land, Welsh llan, as well as *londos (“subduing > fierce”, adj.), whence Old Irish lond.
An earlier, more difficult proposal derives it from *Φlowonidonyom, morphologically adapted from a pre-Celtic Indo-European substrate word meaning something like “Boat River, Unfordable River” or “Flooding-River” and made up of Proto-Indo-European *plew- (“to flow”) and a disputed *neyd- (“to flow”).
Forms in -don- could be artificial Latinizations modelled after e.g. Old English Wreocen < Latin Viroconium (modern Wroxeter). Appears as Middle Welsh Llundein, Old English Lunden, which may not continue the Classical Latin form, but may continue Late British Latin *Lundeinju if the medial -i- of the original word was short. Cf. Etymology of London.

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /lonˈdi.ni.um/, [ɫ̪ɔn̪ˈd̪ɪniʊ̃ˑ]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /lonˈdi.ni.um/, [lon̪ˈd̪iːnium]
* Note: the length of the medial /i/ is unattested, but is likely to have been short.

### Proper noun

Londinium n sg (genitive Londiniī or Londinī); second declension
* (Classical Latin) Londinium (a city in Britannia, Roman Empire; modern London)
* (Medieval Latin, New Latin) London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; capital city of England)

#### Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter), with locative, singular only.
$^1$Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

#### Derived terms

* Londiniēnsis

#### Descendants

* → Ancient Greek: Λονδίνιον (Londínion)
* → Old English: Lunden, *ᛚᚢᚾᛞᛖᚾ (*lunden)
** Middle English: Lunden, London
*** English: London
**** Norwegian Bokmål: London
** → Latin: Lundonia
** →? Old French: Londres, Londrez
*** Middle French: Londres
**** French: Londres (see there for further descendants)
*** → Old Galician-Portuguese: Londres
**** Galician: Londres
**** Portuguese: Londres
* → English: Londinium
* → German: London
* Sicilian: Lògnina, Lònnira

### References

* 1 2 Peter Schrijver (2013) Language Contact and the Origins of the Germanic Languages‎, Routledge, →ISBN, pages 54-57
* ↑ Richard Coates (1998) “A New Explanation of the Name of London”, in Transactions of the Philological Society‎, volume 96, number 2, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 203–229

### Further reading

* “Londinium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* Londinium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.